Whitley nodded. “Reed, Court, take the guest bedroom.” Turning to Jase she said, “The guys can go home, Jase. Or they’re more than welcome to camp out in the foreman’s house.”
Jase nodded. “I’ll tell them. Since it’s late, I’m sure they’ll just crash here for a bit.”
I took Liza’s hand in mine as she said goodnight and gave everyone a kiss on the cheek. We headed upstairs to her bedroom. My parents were staying in the guest room next to Liza’s.
Crawling into bed, I pulled Liza close. Her breathing was slowing down, becoming deeper. “I hate him, Walker. I hate him for scaring me like this. Why is he doing this?”
My body was so fatigued. Every muscle felt like it weighed ten times what it should.
I took a shaky breath. I’d do whatever I needed to do to protect Liza and our child. I whispered, “I don’t know, Liza. But I swear he won’t get near you again. I promise you.”
IT HAD BEEN almost two days since the incident happened at our house. The police where done gathering evidence, and they said that whoever did this had covered his or her tracks. Liza was curled up on the sofa next to my mother, both reading a book. I smiled as I watched both of their faces change as they read.
My father tapped me on the shoulder. “Take a walk with me?”
I shook my head. “Nah.”
Liza set her book in her lap. “Walker. You’ve been next to me since you got back from Tennessee. I promise I’ll be okay. Your mom is here. Go get some fresh air, baby.”
I did need to get out and clear my head. There was still no word on Keith’s whereabouts. When the P.I. stopped at Keith’s parents’, his mom had screamed to leave her son alone and then slammed the door in his face. The police had already been by to question them. Apparently, they were very angry and had accused Liza of slander.
I stood up. “Please don’t leave her side mom.”
Liza smiled and my mother gave me a wink. “Since my car is in the shop,” she said. “I don’t think we’ll be going anywhere. Go on, honey. Go get some fresh air.”
Walking over, I leaned down and brushed my lips against Liza’s. I knew that, if I kissed her, I’d want to take her up to my room and make love to her like I had this afternoon when she’d finally woken up. We’d all eaten a late lunch at Layton and Whitley’s before coming back here for the night.
I followed my dad out the front door. He needed to grab his work cell from the truck.
“Dad, I’m not so sure about leaving Liza.”
Opening the truck door, he grabbed his phone, and put it in his back pocket. “Walker, she’s going to be fine. Come on, let’s walk.”
We started down a path that led to the back of our house, going past the old tree house I couldn’t help but smile. So many memories in that damn thing.
I noticed my dad staring at me. “What’s on your mind, Dad?”
He laughed and said, “I never
could hold anything back from you, Walker.”
I chuckled. “No, sir. Just like I can’t hold anything back from you.”
My father nodded. “Are you doing okay, Walker? How’s Liza? She’s putting up a damn good front today.”
I nodded my head. “Yeah, she’s one hell of a strong person. She keeps saying she’s fine now that I’m back. But I don’t want to take her home, Dad, with Keith still missing. What if he’s just watching the house for her to return? I mean, that note he wrote on the front porch—what kind of sick bastard does that?”
My father’s phone buzzed with a text message. He pulled out his personal cell and read it. His face turned white as he stopped walking and finally looked at me.
My heart stopped for a second before slamming in my chest. “What? What’s wrong?”
His mouth was open slightly, like he was trying to let what he’d read sink in. He shook his head and was about to say something when we heard Liza scream.
“Liza!” We both yelled.
As we ran, I said, “It sounded like she was…”
Then I heard a gunshot. My whole world stopped.